Brothers in Arms
by ladywhiplasher
Summary: After a failed mission in Anctarctica, Skipper and Private are the only remaining members of the unit. Hiding in a cave, Skipper has to tell Private, the most important story of his live. That they are half-brothers. No slash! please R&R
1. The Cave

The snowstorm was getting heavier, so Skipper almost didn´t see anything anymore. The weight of Private, who was lying unconsious in his wings, didn´t make things easier. Skipper felt a burning pain in his abdomen and his foot hurt like hell. Slowly he limped through the snow, in order to look after a save shelter for the night. This whole Operation to explore Anctarctica went terribly wrong.

Ice cold air crept under his feathers and made him shiver. After an hour in the fatal coldness outside, the leader found a small cave, where he limped into as fast as possible, to get out of the snowstorm. His steps echoed from the cave and left a nervous stinging in his stomach. Slowly he put Private to the ground and walked to the small entrance again.

With last strengh he tried to make a barrier made of snow to close the cave. After an hour he´d finally finished, but now it was completely dark inside. Cautiously, Skipper supported himself on the wall and made his way back to his little solidier. "Skipper, what happened?" Private muttered weakly. "Private, how are you feeling? We´ve been attackt by human hunters, remember?" Skipper gasped and pressed his wing to his aching belly. Something warm soaked his feathers and made him weaker and weaker.

"Skipper, where are Kowalski and Rico. Are they here too?" Private asked and turned to Skipper, who slipped down on the wall, breathing heavily. The leader remembered, that he had a small torch in his stomach, in order to regurgigate it like Rico used to do. He just wanted to try that in case of emergency. Skipper coughed and choked, to get it out his stomach. "Hey, are you allright?" Private asked and crawled toward him, although he didn´t see anything.

The leader choked and streched his flipper into his throat to make himself throwing up. And after a few attempts, he managed to cough the torch out. His stomach was revolting now. But he took the lamp to light the room. Skipper stared to Private, who had a bad wound on his head. "Private. are you Ok?" the leader groaned and the little penguin slipped at him. "Yes I´m fine, so far. What about you?" he asked but his gaze fell on Skippers belly.

"God, you´re bleeding, Skipper. Seems like you´ve been hit by a bullet too." Private screamed horrofied and pushed his flippers on Skippers abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding. The leader groaned loudly and gasped. "It´s not that bad. I don´t have a bullet in my body. It only grazed me, I think. But it hurts like hell." Skipper explained and trembled. After all this physical exhaustion, he felt the coldness took over him again.

"Are you cold, Skipper?" Private asked worried, but he started to tremble too. But the leader didn´t answer his question. "You´re cold too, right. We won´t survive the night, when we don´t manage to keep our temperature upright. Even we´re penguins, we´re not used to this environment anymore. It actually could kill us, I suppose." Skipper said thoughtfully. "But we can´t get out. We´re trapped. Facing the snowstorm would be fatal." Private mumbled afraid. Skipper nodded, but he had an idea. But this idea, would take a lot of their friendship.

"Private, if we snuggle together, we could keep each other warm. I know, that sounds kinda wrong, but it´s the only way." Skipper whispered, because fatigue took over him. "I don´t mind, Skipper. Actually there´s nothing wrong at all. We´re friends, so there´s nothing wrong with a little cuddling." Private said, slightly happy. "Ok, come here." the leader said weakly. The little penguin wrapped his flippers cautiously around Skipper and he did the same.

Private rested his head on Skippers chest and rubbed his cheek on it. Skipper put his head on Privates and started rubbing his back, so that he got warm again. "Is that better, Private." the leader whispered. "Much better..." Private sighed and closed his eyes. He listened to Skippers heart beat and breathing. His head moved everytime, Skipper inhaled and exhaled.

Private shighed, because he felt so comfortable now. Slowly he stroked over Skippers chest feathers and tried to fall asleep. "So, you didn´t answer my question before. Where are Rico and Kowalski?" Private asked, a little nervous now. Skipper felt a burning stinging in his heart all of the sudden. He didn´t know if he should tell Private. The leader tightened his hug and took a deep breath.

"Private, I don´t know, how to tell you. But... Kowalski and Rico... p-passed away... They died, because the humans shot them dead." Skipper stammered and fought back tears. The little penguin startled. "They´re dead? No!" he screamed and burst out crying. "Yes, I´m afraid they are, Private. But they died in honor on the battlefield. That makes them glorious heros." the leader said, stroking Privates back. But the little penguin heard Skippers sniffing suddenly. "Skipper, are you... crying?" Private asked and looked at him.

"I know, I´m not supposed to cry. But I can´t hold it back anymore. I´ve lost half of my family. I´m loosing everyone around me!" Skipper lamented. "What does that mean. You still have me, isn´t that something." the little soldier asked sadly. Suddenly he felt a little rejected. "You know, you´re the one, I´ve always had on my side. Since I was a child." Skipper said and hestiated suddenly.

"What. I know, we´ve been knowing each other a long time ago now. But this long?" Private asked curiously. "Yes, you´re one of my oldest friends. Maybe you don´t remember, because you´ve been a baby back then. Private, I´ve never told you but you´re my halfbrother. We share the same mother." the leader explained bitterly.

"What, how´s that possible? But wait, I don´t remember my parents. Actually I´ve always been thinking of you being my dad, Skipper." Private said thoughtfully. He would never have expected of holding his biological brother in his wings right now. "Well, I´m kind of you adoptive father. It´s all a bit complicated and I wanted you to know, when you´ve grown up. But since you know, that I´m your brother, I have to tell you the whole story, right? But I really have to warn you, it´s not a happy story." Skipper answered and allowed Private to snuggle more closer.

"I don´t mind, I think I´m old enough now and it doesn´t change anything right now." the little penguin said and was really excited about hearing this story. Skipper sighed. "Ok, my or better our mother, my father and I lived in Anctarctica. But one day, my father didn´t return from fish hunting. I was a little child back then and I remember, that my mother was coming into my room and told me, my father had died. He´d been shot dead by one of those hunters, the same kind of people, which attackted us, Kowalski and Rico." the leader told and paused for a second.

"I´m sorry, Skipper. It´s always hard to loose someone you love, but you always have to remember those people, who are still with you and who are really careing about you. They´ll always be there to comfort you." Private said and looked at Skipper. "Oh, that´s a really sweet term, Private. Maybe I´m forgetting, how sensitive you are, sometimes." the leader said and pushed Privates head more closly to his chest.

Skipper continued. "Well, of course I mourned for the loss of my father. Many days, months. But with the time passing by, my grief became easier and we almost managed to get back to a normal life. One day, when I was coming home from school, another, male penguin was at our home. His name was Tom and my mother told me, that he was a good friend of our family. But I didn´t like this guy from the first time I´d seen him. A few weeks later, he and my mom became a couple and he also became my stepfather. Fist he was friendly and nice, too friendly and nice. But after a while, he became more and more weird and agressive towards me and my mother."

"One day I actually got real beating from him for forgetting to take out the trash. My mom didn´t even interupt him, she just watched how he placed his punches all over my body. I started to feel real hate for him and tried to avoid him, whenever it was possible. After a few months of punishments and beatings, my mom told me, that she was pregnant... from this guy. I was so afraid of becoming just a useless and worthless little penguin. The worst fear of an only child. And the worst case happened..." Skipper said and closed his eyes. Private would bet his beak for that Skipper was hiding his tears right now.

But the leader regained focus again and continued. " Well, after my mom laid her egg, she got terrible depressions and didn´t even care about me anymore. Her boyfriend became even more agressive. He didn´t wanted this egg and ordered my mom to crash it. I heard them talking late in the night about these plans and I was petrified. How could this coward force my mom to kill my little brother? I decided to do something. One night, when my parents were sleeping I crept into their bedroom and stole the egg, your egg precisely. But they woke up and tried to get the egg from me. I refused and my stepfather took a long kitchen knife. This has been the first time, I was afraid for my life. I exactly remember, how he approached my and threatened my mom to not interupt. And she did, she just stood there and watched, how this son of a bitch was about to kill me. But as he attacked me, I tried to get out of his reach, but I failed. He grabbed your egg and pushed my against the wall. I even remember the disgusting smell of his breath and his mercyless gaze in his eyes..." Skipper paused again and trembled from the emotional pain, he was feeling right now.

Private was so proud of him, he risked his life for the little penguin even before he was born. "What happened then, Skipper?" the little soldier asked cautiously. " I watched, how he approached the egg with the knife after he´d let go of me. He wanted to stab the little embryo, or better, he wanted to stab you. Then all happened very quickly. I jumped up and tried to rip your egg from his flippers, but in this moment of carelessness, got me and slit open my stomach. But I just ignored the pain and the blood, wich was flowing out my body in plentiful amounts. I grabbed your egg and escaped from the house. I was running, just running, not even knowing where to go.

But this was the night of your birth. We were hiding in a small cave near the tribe, almost like we´re doing now. I rembember you cracking the shell of your egg and looking at me the first time. I was so happy, when I saw you, but my wound was deeper than I thought. More and more blood escaped my stomach and I felt how my life faded... You still can feel the scar, Private." the leader mumbled.

He took Privates flipper and placed it on his stomach to make him feel, what it took to save his little brothers life. Private felt it and startled. He was shocked, because he didn´t expected it being all across Skippers stomach. The leader groaned slightly, when Private touched it and the little penguin followed it´s trace with the tip of his flipper. He didn´t know, what to say now.

"How did you survive?" Private asked finally. "Well, I don´t know. Please don´t be mad at me, but I almost have no memory of this night anymore. I just remember, that I was totally determinded to force myself to stay alive, just to care about you. I remember the coldness and I put you into my wings to keep you warm. This was one of the most intensive and wonderful feelings, I´ve felt in my entire life. Holding my little brother in my flippers. We fell asleep in the early moring hours and some researchers found us. They took us into their lab and doctored me. I remember them suspecting me being your dad, although I was a young teenager back then. We stayed a few weeks there until you´d grown a little and I´d been strong enough to survive a journey. The researchers sent us to New York, Central Park Zoo and I´ve never heard any sign of life from my mom or that jerk, sorry I have to call your father like that. That´s it, Private. I hope, this wasn´t too unsettle for you. But saving you, was the most important mission I´ve ever had." Skipper added and ended the story.

Private was a little confused right now, but this feeling soon had been replaced by immesureable pride to have Skipper as a loving and careing father/brother. "Skipper, I don´t know, what to say. But I can´t believe, that such an amazing, courageous, brave... I don´t even know the right words, right now... penguin, is my real brother. I wish I could express somehow, what you mean to me, Skipper. I know, you aren´t my biological dad, but you are my real dad in my heart. You deserve just way more than a hug from me. You deserve the biggest part of my heart. I could never be any prouder of you, dad." Private said and a tear of joy rolled down his cheek.

"I love you, son..." Skipper mumbled and placed a kiss on Privates forehead, to show him, how grateful he was for Privates words.


	2. A Fatal Encounter

**Note: Hey Guys, sorry I haven´t been uptdating for so long. I had so much things to do. But I decided to make a threeshot from this, because I didn´t want to leave it that way. **

Chapter 2: A Fatal Encounter

After their conversation, Skipper and Private soon fell asleep inside the cold cave. But since both were exhausted, they slept deeply and soundly. Private laid on Skippers belly and the leader had wrapped his wings around his soldier, both trying to keep each other warm.

Private was the first to awake in the morning. Still he had snuggled his head tightly on Skippers chest. He felt so comfortable, so he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep again. The little penguin sighed and let his head sink down onto the softness of his leaders chest feathers again.

But suddenly he heard Skipper groaning quietly. It sounded a little like he was in pain. "Skipper, are you okay?" the young soldier whispered worried. The leader opened his eyes and clenched them in pain again. "My stomach hurts a little, Private" Skipper responded, pointing to the wound on his belly, where he has been shot. Private looked down and saw some of Skippers blood stained his own white feathers.

"It has already stopped bleeding. Don´t worry, Skipper." Private said and tried to wipe the blood away, with stuck on both of their bellies. "It´s okay, Private. Where you able to sleep at least?" the leader asked. "Yes, like a baby" Private answered with a smile on his face. Both got up and Skipper streched his flippers. "Well, I think its time we get outta here. I hope the snowstorm is over." the leader said, with a slightly worried expression on his face.

He went to the entrance wich was closed by a barrier of snow Skipper had built the day before. Slowly he tried to dig a hole through the snow to get outside. Private joined to help him. Fortunately the snowstorm had settled and the sun was shining. But Skipper still shivered from the freezing temperatures. The penguins climbed through the hole and both were almost blinded by the bright sun.

"What do we do now, Skipper?" Private asked and looked around. But he saw just the deserted scenery of Antarctica. "Mhm, we have to get to a habour or a airport or something. We need to get back to New York as soon as possible" Skipper said, rubbing the underside of his beak as he thought about what to do next.

So they made their way, trying to find a sign of civilisation. But soon Skipper felt something was wrong. Even Private felt it. The leader stopped at once, pulling Private close. "Someone is following us" Skipper whispered into his brothers earhole. "Hey, who are you?" they heard a voice screaming after them. Skipper and Private turned around and another penguin appeared from behind a pile of snow. He had a knife in his flippers, pointing towards them threatingly.

"Who are you?" Skipper asked back, shoving Private behind his back to protect him. But suddenly the leader began to realize that he knew thhe face of the other penguin. He was pretty tall but he looked pretty old. His feathers were dirrty and his bloodshot eyes stared at them with pure hate. "I know you..." Skipper whispered and got a painful sting in his stomach. "You?" growled the other penguin in a deep hoarse voice, he seemed to know Skipper as well.

"You little bastard finally returned to Antarctica. After all those years. And you brought someone with you..." the old penguin said, smiling deviously. "S-Skipper, who´s that?" Private asked with a trembling voice. "Private, as much as it pains to say that, but this is your dad..." Skipper whispered back. "Now way! Is that the little brat whose egg I wanted to crash?" Tom said with a chuckle. He approached Skipper and Private slowly.

The little penguin hid behind his leaders back in fear. He knew, that Tom once tried to kill him and Private was sure he would do it again. "Stay behind me, Private" Skipper murmured and the little penguin gasped. "So you´ve grown up, little guy? I don´t know if Skipper has ever told you the truth, but I´m your real dad, little badger" Tom said, tightening his grip around the knifes handle.

But suddenly the little penguin stepped from behind Skipper to face his father. "Yes, Skipper told me everything. You tried to kill me. Me, your own flesh and blood. I know Skipper had saved my egg and adopted me as a son back then. He saved me from you. I hate you!" Private hissed angrily.

"Well, little brat. Your birth was just a stupid accident. You hear me? We didn´t want to have another child. I just wanted to have fun with your poor, stupid mother" Tom snarled with another evil chuckle. "Don´t insult our mother, jerk!" Skipper growled and stepped forward. "Oh, Skipper. You´re hilarious. I didn´t even love her. And she died shortly after you left Antarctica with the stupid egg" the old penguin told. The leader felt a painful sting in his heart, their mother was dead and grief took over him. Private sobbed quietly to mourn the loss, although he had never met his mother.

"You bastard, you should have saved her. You were her husband, but what could I even expect from a former killer?" Skipper hissed, trying to fight back his tears. "I didn´t care about her, as I didn´t care about you. You´ve always been an obstacle in our relationship. And then happened this accident.." Tom said and pointed the tip of his knife to Private, who startlet. "It´s not his or mine fault, that you are a sick psycho" Skipper growled trying to shove Private behind his back again as he saw that the knife came threatenly close to them.

"Well, enough from the old stories. I want Private to stay here in Antarctica, he could be actually useful for me though" Tom said, streching his flipper after the little penguin. "Private isn´t going anywhere. You tried to kill him and now you want him back to be your own little slave? No way, I´m his father now!" Skipper said angrily. But Tom didn´t care about what Skipper said.

The old penguin grabbed the little soldiers flipper and pulled him to his side. "Skipper, help!" Private screamed in fear. "Let him go!" the leader growled and tried to pull him back. But all of the sudden Tom threw a punch at Skippers stomach. The leader gasped and pressed his wings on his belly. Tom had hit him directly on his wound. "Skipper!" Private yelled and tried to break free from his fathers grasp.

"Stay here!" Tom shouted and slapped Private across his face. "Don´t you dare to touch him!" Skipper screamed and lunged at his stepfather. Private covered his eyes with his flippers in fear. Suddenly he heard Skippers agonized scream. Tom had drawn his knife and rammed it into Skippers chest, just inches below his cellarbone. The leader yelled in pain and his blood stained the white snow. "Now you´re not as strong anymore?" Tom hissed with a smile and twisted the blade to widen Skippers wound.

Private watched as Skipper collapsed to the ground, gasping in pain. The blade still stuck in his chest and Tom pulled out slowly, just to cause even more pain for the leader penguin. Private quickly ran to his side, but Tom pulled him back. "Don´t even think about it, boy. He deserved it!" the old penguin said, but Private managed to escape his grasp this time.

"No, you are not my father, he is!" Private yelled at him. "Not anymore!" Tom growled and raised the knife to slit open Skippers body. But Private threw himself between his leader and the blade. He screamed as he felt the cold metal ripped open his back. "Stupid jerk!" Tom screamed but the little penguin managed to grab the knife and stabbed it back into his fathers heart. Tom gasped and pushed his wing on the wound.

Soon he coughed up his own blood and collapsed into the snow. " Private, you dared to kill your own father?" the old penguin gasped and chocked on his own blood. A few minutes he died in front of Privates eyes, but the little penguin didn´t even care about him. His concern was centered around Skipper, who was gasping in pain and bleeding heavily. "Skipper, talk to me!" Private screamed and lifted his leader from the ground, holding him in his wings.

"I-I´m so proud of you, son. At- at least y-you´re okay" Skipper whispered and coughed up some blood. "Skipper, don´t fall asleep. You need to stay awake. Please don´t leave me, father!" the little penguin yelled desperately...


	3. Lost in the Snow

Chapter 3. Lost in the Snow

Private screamed as Skipper lost consciousness. "No, Skipper. Stay with me. Don´t leave me alone!" the little penguin cried, feeling his teas where floating down his cheeks. He didn´t even feel the pain from his own wound. Private pushed his head on his leaders chest and he was relieved that he still could hear his heartbeat. But the little soldier knew, that they would die outside here in the cold, so it was up to him now to find a proper shelter for the night.

"Come on, Skipper. I won´t leave you to your fate. I´m going to carry you, no matter where we go. Just stay alive" Private murmured to the unconscious Skipper and lifted his body from the cold ground. The little penguin gasped, when he felt the pain from his back as he straightened himself. But he didn´t care, he just clenched his eyes and beared the pain.

Cautiously he held Skipper in his wings and went ahead. With all his strengh he dragged his wounded leader through the bitter cold masses of snow. Although he lost more and more blood, he remained strong. It was getting dark as his power seemed to leave his body. Private stumbled and collapsed into the snow along with Skipper.

Quickly he checked his leaders condition and he realized, that his father was getting weaker and weaker. In addition to that, Skipper shivered from the coldness here outside. Private burst out in tears, because he couldn´t do anything to help him. He even wasn´t able to keep Skipper warm. Now he lost all of his confidence and cried on his leaders chest.

Suddenly he heard a faint moan. "Private, why are you crying?" Skipper whispered, his voice shaking from pain. "Skipper, what can I do? How can I help you? We´re in the middle of nowhere!" Private cried and looked into his leaders eyes. Skipper saw Privates desperartion and pain. "Private, if nessecary you need to leave me here. Go and save yourself" the leader penguin gasped.

But the little one shook his head. "No I will never leave you. Now I know all the truth. You saved my life, more than once. And now I will save yours" Private said determinded, but he clenched his eyes as he felt the stinging pain of his wound again. His body was already showing him that he hadn´t got the strenght for saving both of them. It was over and Private knew it.

An ice cold breeze grazed over them and Skipper trembled. He felt more blood was running down his body and he began breathing heavily. "Skipper, please don´t leave me... I love you, dad" Private said when he saw that his leaders condidion became worse. Cautiously he pressed his body on Skippers, trying everything to keep him warm.

All of the sudden they head steps in the snow behind them. Private turned around and another penguin stood behind them. He had a worried expression on his face but also a determinded glance in his eyes. The little penguin looked at him and recognized some familiar looks. "Who are you?" Private asked and shivered. "I´m James, what happened to you guys? Are you okay?" the older penguin asked concerned. He couldn´t see Skipper properly because Private had almost covered Skipper with his whole body to keep him warm.

"We need help, he´s injured. Please help us!" Private cried and straightened himself up. James looked at Skipper and gasped. "Oh God, what happened to you, we need to get him to my house, or he´ll die. Quickly now!" James said quickly, his nervousness made Private a little suspicious.

"P-Private who´s there?" he heard a faint voice. Skipper was awake again, but his vision became more and more blurry. "Skipper, there´s someone to help us. You´ll be fine again. I promise" the little penguin said, trying to sound confident and stroked Skippers cheek.

"Let me take a look at him, young man" James said and bend over Skipper. The leader gasped at the sight of the other penguin. Now he thought he was dreaming or already dead. "Father... is... it... you?" Skipper whispered. But all the exictement caused him to cough up more blood and the leader lost his consciousness again.


	4. Rescue in the last Second

4. Rescure in the last second

"He´s loosing too much blood, we need to get him to my place" James said and shoved his flippers under Skippers body to lift him up. But this caused even more pain for the leader and he yelled in agony. "Oh God, Skipper. Please hold out" Private whimpered and stroked Skippers chest. He felt the hot blood pouring down his leaders body.

"He´ll live, little man. I promise" James said, trying to sound calm but quickening his pace. After five minutes they arrived at another cave. It had a small entrance with a wooden door. James opened it quickly and stepped in. Private followed him but he noticed that they´d left a trace of blood in the snow.

Without hestiation James shoved everything from a wooden table and laid Skipper down. He ran into the bathroom and fetched a first aid kit. Meanwhile Private stayed with Skipper, trying everthing for comfort. "Skipper, you need to stay strong, please don´t leave me" the little penguin sobbed as he stroked Skippers stomach. Suddenly he felt Skipper grabbing his flipper, holding it. "Private, I´ll never leave you" the leader gasped in pain. Private felt some tears dripping down his cheeks. James returned quickly and laid bandages and some other medical stuff beside Skipper. Now he took a closer look at the wound. "It´s pretty deep, I hope that his internal organs aren´t injured" James said. Cautiously he laid his head on Skippers chest and listened closely. "Skipper, take a deep breath" James mumbled.

He felt how Skippers chest rose and fell, causing the leader to gasp in pain. "Shh, Skipper. Easy..." the older penguin whispered and stroked Skippers head. "What was that about?" Private asked. "Well I tried to check if his lungs are okay, there would be a strange noise if they were filled with blood" James explained. "No thats not what I meant. You´re so close to him, like you are knowing him for a long time" Private asked. "I know him since he was born, Private. I´m his father" James answered and Private gasped.

"No, Skipper told me that you´re dead" Private said and looked at Skipper, who lost consicousness again. "I´ll tell you later, Private" James said, his voice stern and concerned. He dabbed the wound with a white cloth and wiped the blood away. "It´s too deep, I need to sew it" James said, fetching a needle and a thin string. He did the first sting and Skipper woke up again.

"What are you doing?" the leader gasped, but he couldn´t even raise his head. "Shh Skipper, James need to sew the wound. Just close your eyes and try to sleep" Private whispered and began rubbing Skippers chest comfortingly. The leader gasped loudly as James did the second sting. "Relax, son. I´ll hurry up." James said, his expression showed concern and worry.

"S-Son? Did you just call me son?" Skipper asked and turned his head to look into his fathers face. Then he realized it quickly. His father was not dead, he was right beside him, saving his life. "D-Dad? I thought you where dead" Skipper whispered weakly, since the blood loss draind all of his energy. "No, I´ve never been dead, Skipper. I´ll tell you the whole story, when you´re feeling better. It´s more important that you´ll get fine again, my son" James answered and continued his work.

After approximately twenty stiches, Skippers wound was sewed up. Although it brought the leader much pain, he felt already better and the injury almost stopped bleeding. After the procedure, James desinfected it and bandaged it properly. Skipper was out of breath and dead tired. His body still shivered from the coldness and exhaustion.

James sighed when he was finished and cautiously lifted his son from the table. The leader snuggled onto his father, subconsciouly. The old penguin brought him to his bedroom and laid him down on a soft and comfortable matress. Private wanted to follow them, but James told him to stay in the living room, so that he could take a look at the little penguins wound too, which Private had almost completely forgotten.

But now he felt the burning pain, but he didn´t care because his action was nessecary to save Skippers life. After James had lain Skipper down in his bed he returned to Private. The little penguin gasped as the old penguin examinated the wound on his back. "It´s pretty deep, young Private. But fortulately I don´t have to sew it like Skipper´s" he said and with that words he dabbed it and cleaned the wound. It had stopped bleeding already and the pain was getting easier.

Private yawned, because after all the hardships, he felt dead tired. He just wished to go to bed too and slip into a deep sleep. "So thats it. You should join Skipper on the bed, since he´s still freezing, he needs somebody to keep him warm, before he gets sick too" James said and led Private into his bedroom, where Skipper already was sleeping soundly. After the little penguin laid down beside his leader, James fetched all blankets he owned and covered both of them.

The litte penguin felt Skipper shivering beside him and snuggled up to him as closly as possible. Gently he rubbed his flippers on his body to get his body temperature to a normal state again. When Private was about to fall asleep, Skipper woke up and looked him into his eyes. "Thank you, Private. You´ve saved my life and you found my father. I don´t know how I ever could express my gratitude to you" the leader whispered, with his eyes half closed from sheer tiredness.

"You don´t have to thank me, Skipper. Anything for you, dad. I love you..." Private muttered sleepy and fell asleep in his leaders embrace.


	5. A Family Issue

**Note: So after so long time, here is the last chapter. I hope you liked this story and please forgive me for not updating so long. Please review!**

5. A Family Issue

Skipper slept quite soundly, while Private was warming him with his body. Later that night, James laid down beside his son and cautiously began stroking his side. The leader winced when he felt his father´s touch and woke up. "I´m sorry, Skipper. I didn´t want to wake you" James apologized and pulled back his flipper. "No, it´s fine, I´m just glad you´re here with me" Skipper whispered, half asleep.

"You have no idea, how much I´ve missed you. I thought of you everyday, my son" Skipper´s dad confessed with a sadly undertone. "What happened to you? Why did you leave us? Leave me?" Skipper asked and turned to his father.

"Well, it´s a long story, Skipper. A very tragic story. You remember that day, when I went fishing and never retuned?" James asked and Skipper nodded in silence. How could he ever forget that day, he had lost his father.

"Of course I remember. I was waiting for you. But mom told me, that you died, three days after you´d vanished" Skipper narrated and his voice started to tremble a little. After all those years, he had still trouble to talk about it.

Small tears formed in his eyes, which had been wiped away through his father´s gentle flipper. "It´s okay, Skipper. But you need to know, that I didn´t leave you on purpose. I was fishing and lost in my thoughts while swimming. I didn´t see that boat of humans approaching me. Then it happened. I smashed against the boat and lost all of my memories through the impact. When I woke up again, I was far away from home, not knowing, who I was" James reported and Skipper gasped.

Now everything made sense. "What happened after you´d lost your memory?" the leader asked. James sighed. "Well, I managed to swim to the next shore, before drowning from dizzyness. But the waves of the sea were to strong for me and I had trouble to stay alive. I stranded on a lonly island, not knowing where I was. I didn´t even know my name anymore or that I had a family to take care of, so I tried to figure out, what had happened. Months later, I slowly started to remember things from my old life. I remembered you and your mother. But when I came back home, it was devastated. You´re mom was dead, she killed herself and you, you where just gone" Skipper´s dad told him, trying to hide tears.

After that touching story, the leader told his dad, what had happened after he was gone. He told him, that his mother mated with another penguin and what he did to them. James was shocked and mad at himself for not had been able to protect his family from such a jerk. Skipper then turned over to Private, who was still sleeping soundly. "That´s the only good thing that jerk left to me. He´s my half-brother and, most importantly, like a son to me" Skipper said proudly and stroked over Privates cheeks, which made the little penguin smile widely in his sleep.

"He´s a good boy, just like you. He was risking his life for saving you, he was so brave and courageous. That little guy carried you through the icy wastland, trying to keep you alive with all his strength. He truly loves you, like a son should love his dad" James smiled, proud of Skipper being such a good father for Private. "I love him too, I´d die for him..." Skipper muttered tiredly, still stroking Private´s cheek affectionately.

Skipper yawned suddenly. "You should rest now, son. You´ve lost a lot of blood" James said, getting up. But the leader held his flipper. "Don´t go dad. I want you to stay here, please" Skipper asked, almost sounding like a little child. His dad smiled and laid down again. The leader let out a satisfied sighed and huddled against the two penguins, he loved the most. He didn´t know, what the future will bring, or if they will ever return to the Central Park Zoo again, but for now, Skipper was just the happiest penguin on earth.


End file.
